


Bedroom Hymns

by callunavulgari



Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, F/M, M/M, Multi, Post Series, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-02
Updated: 2013-11-02
Packaged: 2017-12-31 07:06:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1028731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callunavulgari/pseuds/callunavulgari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes it’s the little moments, the bedroom hymns that lull you to sleep at night. Other times, it’s the big ones—the Mt. Everest’s of experiences. Saving the world or watching your kids grow old, memories that sit warm in your heart for the rest of your life. The moments mingle until they’re nearly indistinguishable, because in the end, it’s just your life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bedroom Hymns

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a day of Dark Month, but alas, I slacked off. (And by slacked off, I mean got another job.) Definitely fun to write though. Also, I decided that I wanted to write daemon fic for this fandom because I recently reread Elizabeth's [Four Time Percy Saw a Daemon Settle](http://archiveofourown.org/works/360847), so you should really go read that, because she is awesome. Likewise, the idea that the River Styx is made of the dead's daemons is all her idea.
> 
> For those of you who aren't familiar with the HDM verse, you don't really have to be. Basically, a daemon is your external soul, in the form of an animal. It is almost always the opposite gender of you, though there are exceptions. Touching other people's daemons is pretty much a no-no all the time, except for in intimate or dire circumstances. If you want more info, here's [a primer.](http://foxxcub.livejournal.com/405341.html)
> 
> Annabeth- [Archimedes, little owl](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Little_Owl.JPG/800px-Little_Owl.JPG). Means "master of thought" from the Greek element αρχος (archos) "master" combined with μηδομαι (medomai) "to think, to be mindful of".  
> Percy- [Andromeda](http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/wong/gianthornet1.jpg), she used to prefer canines and aquatic animals, but to everyone’s surprise, she settled as a Japanese giant hornet. It is of Greek origin, and the meaning of Andromeda is "leader of men". Greek mythology: an Ethiopian princess, the daughter of Cassiopeia, was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster until Perseus rescued her.  
> Nico- [Elpis, jackel](http://photos.zoochat.com/large/black-backed_jackal_plzen_1st_september_2012_a-200882.jpg). Means "hope" in Greek. In Greek mythology Elpis was the personification of hope. She was the last spirit to remain in the jar after Pandora unleashed the evils that were in it.  
> Bianca- [Acaum, lioness](http://wallpoper.com/images/00/44/39/32/hunting-lioness_00443932.jpg). Mayan, a hunter & protector.  
> Jason- [Aurelia, golden eagle](http://tryingtoheal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/golden-eagle-021.jpg) Aurelia is the female form of the Roman classic Aurelius, very common in the Roman Empire but rarely heard in modern America. The name of several minor early saints, Aurelia has the right sound, feel, and meaning to rise again. It means 'the golden one.'  
> Hazel- [Beauregard (Beau), atlas moth](http://www.thefeaturedcreature.com/wordpress6/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/AtlasMoth1.jpg). A boy's name of French origin, and the meaning of Beauregard is "beautiful gaze". The name can also mean "easy on the eye".  
> Piper- [Aponivi, sun bear](http://www.factzoo.com/sites/all/img/mammals/sun-bear.jpg). The name Aponivi is a Native American baby name. In Native American the meaning of the name Aponivi is: Where the wind blows down the gap.  
> Leo- [Telma, flying dragon lizard](http://static.environmentalgraffiti.com/sites/default/files/images/7201103160_d303a41ea0_b.img_assist_custom-600x398.jpg). In Spanish, the meaning of the name Telma is: Will; willful.  
> Rachel- [Louis, persian](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Deaf_odd_eye_white_cat_sebastian.jpg). In French the meaning of the name Louis is: Famous warrior, from the Old German 'Chlodovech'. Eighteen kings of France have borne this name, and Louis was used by the French royal family for hundreds of years.
> 
> Frank is a [rhino](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t-VV3_6w_v4/UVXEQ3oiY2I/AAAAAAAAYHc/77He_92Kjlw/s1600/western-black-rhino2.jpg) and Clarisse is a [doberman](http://dogs.spirit-animals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Doberman-Pinscher-4.jpg), btw. I had to stop myself before I made daemons for everybody.

These are the things they don’t tell you about life: the feel of dew curling between your toes before the sun has come up, the taste of the first frost on your tongue, the smell of cookies in the oven, and the sound of your loved ones laughter echoing down the hall. They don’t tell you about how it feels, hearing that your sister is dead from a boy who looks half dead himself, exhausted and dirty and saying, “Nico, I’m sorry, but—”  
  
They don’t tell you about how the purple lights that Annabeth has half-heartedly strung up in the bushes for Halloween kind of look like constellations if you squint or how Percy’s daemon settles herself on your shoulder while you sit on the toilet seat, waiting for him to get out of the shower.  
  
What stories often get wrong is that it’s not the big, swelling moments that really get to you—saving the world was grand and all, Percy will sometimes say, but it’s got nothing on just having a quiet day in.  
  
.  
  
Nico’s memories of his childhood are black and white now, dulled by almost a century that passed by in what felt like a month. He barely remembers his mother’s daemon, but he remembers the day that Acaum settled, a few days before their life crashed and burned.   
  
“Do you think she’s going to stay that way?” he’d asked, Acaum settled on the floor at Bianca’s feet. His sister's daemon had given him this look, her tongue still stuck in Elpis’ fur, and Elpis had laughed and tumbled right out of her paws.  
  
“Of course she is,” Bianca told him, a hand stroking down Acaum’s golden back.   
  
Years later, that’s the one that stands out. Not his mother dying or a father they never knew hiding them away, but that one quiet moment that passed between them as Nico nodded sharply, and said, “Good.”  
  
.  
  
The first time that Nico kissed Percy was at Gaea’s feet, in front of gods, Annabeth, and what felt like the rest of the world, poised on the cusp of sacrifice and death, because earth was _his_ element—he was the son of the earthshaker and the soil called to him like it was _his_ , and he would be damned if the earth was going to give way and take Percy away from him again. Sweat trembled on his brow. Beside him, Elpis swayed, panting, because keeping the ground knit together beneath their feet was killing him—killing them—and he was sorry, but she’d understand. He was fourteen years old, fully willing to die, and the second most important thing next to keeping the rest of them alive was the intense, burning desire to make Percy _understand_ before Nico up and sacrificed himself to some stupid goddess.  
  
 _Don’t hold a grudge, Nico_ , his sister’s ghost had warned him, Acaum’s absence at her side like a dagger between his ribs. So he hadn’t—he let go, resigned himself to surrendering to the love rather than the hate.   
  
_Never keep a secret before going to bed_ , his mother used to say. _Never fall asleep angry._  
  
So he said fuck everything, held the earth together, and reeled Percy in by the collar.  
  
Percy’s lips had been chapped, slack with surprise, and when he pulled back, Annabeth eyed him contemplatively, and muttered, “Huh. Okay,” and stabbed Gaea in the toe. Then she’d turned to Nico and said, “Don’t you dare die for us, Nico di Angelo.”  
  
That’s what he remembers later, not the goddess bent on destroying all of them, but the quirk of Annabeth’s lips, Archimedes perched on her shoulder, as she whispered the words that would save him.   
  
Gaea howled and Jason swooped in from somewhere to take Percy’s place, his eagle daemon clawing at the goddess’ eyes, and they saved the world. Again.  
  
.  
  
His sixteenth birthday—the day that would have determined the fate of the world if Percy had gotten his ass killed—Annabeth grabs him by the collar during one of the rare times that he’s visiting camp and pulls him into Percy’s cabin, where she silences his protests with her lips.  
  
It’s weird, mostly because Archimedes is still perched on her shoulder and while kissing someone, he doesn’t often think of feathers brushing up against his face, but also it’s strange because it’s Annabeth. Kissing Annabeth just wasn’t a thing he’d ever really considered before.   
  
Her lips are warm, her hands hesitating for a fraction of a second before going to his waist, digging her thumbs into his hipbones and dragging him in closer.   
  
She shoves him a little, laughing against his lips when he lets out this little gasp as his back thunks up against the wall, and goes to her knees. That’s probably when his brain goes right out the window, because he’s staring at a statue of Poseidon as Percy’s girlfriend tugs his dick out of his pants, tongue darting out to lick all around the head and just, fuck.  
  
Elpis makes this weird little yip at his side when Archimedes gives a baleful hoot and flutters away, but he can’t concentrate on his daemon right now, because holy fucking shit, Annabeth is going down on him.  
  
He swears a little, fists clenching and unclenching, and maybe whines in the back of his throat, because this is Percy’s girlfriend. His dick has been in that mouth, his lips have been all over that body that Nico’s touching, and he can’t do a damn thing but squirm. He’s never had a blow job. He’s never had anyone touch his dick. He’s only ever kissed one other person and that was a one-off ‘oh shit I’m going to die’ thing that happened when he was fourteen years old.   
  
She’s only been at it for maybe five minutes before he starts whimpering, trying to twist out of her grip because his voice sure as hell isn’t working and he has to warn her, because he’s heard that coming down someone’s throat without warning is not cool at all.  
  
He only notices the front door opening because Elpis darts off towards it, muttering something unsavory under her breath.  
  
“Fuck,” he whines, eyes fixed on the way that Percy’s features go slack with surprise, and comes.  
  
.  
  
“Six minutes and twenty-three seconds,” Annabeth says, wiping her mouth and flashing a smile his way as she gets back to her feet. “Better than Percy’s first time.”  
  
Then, she looks over her shoulder, cool as can be, and says, “Hey Seaweed Brain, you’re late.”  
  
Elpis is sitting just behind Percy’s legs, peering around them to glower at Nico, Andromeda buzzing around her head like an overgrown fruit fly. As he watches, still numb from orgasm, Archimedes settles himself onto Percy’s shoulder like he belongs there.   
  
Something in Nico’s belly squirms, uncomfortably, as Percy, apparently unthinkingly, leans over to nuzzle his cheek against Archimedes’ wings. It’s like a reflex, as if Archimedes is _his daemon_ , so intimate that Nico feels like he should look away.  
  
“What party?” Percy murmurs, shaking his head and finally shutting the door behind him, oddly careful of Elpis at his feet. “I thought that the getting into Nico’s pants party wasn’t until next Tuesday.”  
  
Nico feels the blood rush to his face as Annabeth props herself up against him and sends him this wicked little grin, her lips red and swollen. “Yeah, sorry, couldn’t wait.”  
  
Percy shrugs—he just shrugs, like it’s no big deal that he just walked in on his girlfriend blowing another dude—and says, “Well, it is his birthday, I guess.”  
  
“Exactly,” Annabeth chirps, leaning over to kiss Percy on the cheek when he comes to a stop at their side. Andromeda settles in Annabeth’s curls, like the most terrifying hair clip ever, and Annabeth’s smile widens.  
  
Elpis whines and finally, apparently sick of waiting for Nico to say it, hisses, “Would anyone like to tell us what’s going on here?”  
  
Her ears twitch, like she’s not sure if she wants to lay them flat and snarl. Andromeda makes this little sound, like she’s snorting and buzzing at the same time, and replies, “I’d think it’s pretty obvious what’s happening, actually.”  
  
“We want you, dirt for brains,” Annabeth adds, laying her hand against his hip. “And gods know if I left it up to Percy, you’d never find out.”  
  
“You want me,” Nico deadpans, staring at her. Percy leans into him, setting his chin on Nico’s shoulder, and together, they’ve boxed him in, cornered him against the wall, and he’s never felt more helpless, caged between their bodies.  
  
“We both want you, yeah,” Percy goes, dragging his nose against the shell of Nico’s ear. He shivers all over and he can’t see her right now because she’s somewhere in the vicinity of Percy’s legs again, but he hears Elpis whine low in her throat.   
  
“Okay,” he murmurs faintly. He could be wrong, but he’s pretty sure that Percy just licked his ear, and even though he just had a pretty awesome orgasm, his dick is already twitching again with renewed interest against Percy’s thigh. Percy puts his mouth on Nico’s throat and _sucks_. “Yeah, okay.”  
  
.  
  
It’s weird, because in all the years he’s spent crushing on Percy, Nico’s never once thought that he might be able to _have_ him. Not like this—not waking up wedged between Percy and Annabeth and tracing the bruises that they’ve left all over his skin, like they were trying to map his flesh with their mouths. He’s never been good at sleeping through the night, so they’re still snoring when he rubs the sleep from his eyes and carefully wriggles his way out of their sleeping pile. He looks for Elpis, his eyes searching the shadows of Percy’s room, and yeah, there she is, curled up around Andromeda and Archimedes, her tail draped over them like a blanket.  
  
“El,” he whispers. Her ear twitches and she gives this exhausted little whuff of air that is absolutely precious.   
  
“Go back to sleep,” she mutters, tucking her snout further into her tail.  
  
“I don’t want to,” he hisses, reluctant to actually move her. If he moves her, Archimedes and Andromeda will wake up and with his luck, that means _Percy and Annabeth_ will wake up. He really, really doesn’t want that to happen.  
  
“Elpis,” he whines, successfully locating his pants under Percy’s. She blinks her eyes open and yawns, long and slow, pointedly showing him her teeth.  
  
“We’re not leaving them like this,” she tells him.  
  
He glowers. “Why not?”  
  
“Because we aren’t the type for one-night stands,” she announces, like it’s that simple. “And wouldn’t you freak out if it were Percy leaving before you woke up?”  
  
“Yeah, but that’s—”  
  
“Different?” she finishes, giving him a disappointed look. Miserably, he nods. “How is it different?”  
  
“Because—”  
  
“Because it’s Annabeth _and_ Percy next to you?” She snorts, then apologetically licks the top of Archimedes head. “Don’t give me that crap. You sure weren’t complaining about her being there last night.”  
  
“That’s because…” he trails off on his own this time, because saying that he wasn’t complaining because she was too busy riding the hell out of him seems slightly tacky. “I don’t like her like that though.”  
  
The words taste like a lie on his tongue. Judging from the way El narrows her eyes at him, she knows it too. Maybe before yesterday he’d had nothing but respect for Annabeth, but things had changed. She was fun and interesting, and most of the truly awesome ideas that had been tested out the night before were hers.   
  
“I don’t know if I like girls, though,” he whispers, hunching down in front of the pile of daemons. He gives them an affectionate, distracted smile, thinking of the way that Annabeth and Percy had touched each others so easily—if maybe that was how they got themselves through Tartarus—if someday, they might touch Elpis like that too.  
  
“You might not,” Elpis shrugs, yawning hugely again. “But you like her and you know it. So go the fuck back to sleep before I bite you.”  
  
“You’d never bite me,” he snorts. She bares her teeth at him.   
  
“Try me.”  
  
.  
  
He stays—doesn’t sleep much, but he stays—tucked between their bodies, absorbing their warmth.  
  
When Percy wakes up the next morning and sees that Nico’s awake, he gives him this huge grin and presses a sloppy kiss to the side of Nico’s head.  
  
Nico ignores the smug look Elpis sends his way. She doesn’t know everything, no matter what she thinks.  
  
.  
  
“We heard about you and the power couple of the century,” Beau tells him later that week, settling lightly atop Nico’s head. The contact doesn’t feel all that weird, mostly because it’s his hair, not skin. He’s also used to Beau by now—the way he shies away from almost everyone else, but took to Nico the moment that he tugged him out of the Styx and set him at Hazel’s feet, wings still glistening with the remnants of other souls.  
  
Hazel joins them a moment later, pressing a kiss to his cheek and carefully extracting Beau from his hair. “So are you going to tell us about it?”  
  
“No,” Nico says, at the same time that Elpis snorts and mutters, “Yes.”  
  
They lapse into silence, Nico glowering at them all.   
  
“You’re blushing,” Hazel tells him, laughingly.   
  
“Am not,” he goes, which is about as mature as it sounds. “Yeah, okay, we hooked up. We’re… something. I don’t know, we’re working on it.”  
  
He doesn’t tell Hazel about how he’s spent the last few nights in Percy’s cabin, getting years of sexual frustration out of his system, or how just earlier that day, Andromeda had sat herself on the top of his shoe—hitching a ride on him rather than Percy. “Flying is boring, sometimes,” was all she’d said when she caught a glimpse of the look Nico threw her, and that was that.  
  
“Mmm hmm,” Hazel says, laughing when Beau bats his wings in her face, the intense red catching the light of the setting sun. “Okay, well, when you guys figure it out, let me know.”  
  
.  
  
He thinks about bringing it up that night—just asking them what he is to them as he shuffles into the cabin. He stops, barely in the doorway, and just stares. Annabeth is doing something with a sketch pad, mostly naked, and Percy is reclining next to her, looking bored. Andromeda’s clinging to the eraser of Annabeth’s pencil and Archimedes is tucked into the crook of Percy’s elbow.  
  
His mouth goes dry at the sight of them and when Percy catches a glimpse of him in the doorway, he lights up, brighter than the sun.  
  
Conveniently, Nico forgets to ask.  
  
.  
  
He doesn’t see much of the other seven, but then, he was never very close to any of them. He sees Jason the most. He’s a good guy, a good friend.   
  
He confronts Nico a couple days after Hazel does, grinning wide, Aurelia a huge, hulking presence on his shoulder.  
  
Jason’s always been good about not touching Nico, has been since the first time Nico had told him he didn’t like it. When Nico was small and terrified of human contact, Jason had given him space. He’d kept his secret.  
  
“Heard about—” Jason starts and Nico sighs, slapping his hand over Jason’s mouth.  
  
“Drop it. It happened. It’s happening. I’ll let you know when I figure out what’s going on.”  
  
Jason, oh so mature, licks his hand.  
  
.  
  
The summer can’t last forever. Eventually, the kids from Camp Jupiter, Hazel included, are going to have to go back, and the rest of Camp Halfblood is going to go home for the winter. He’s got an expiration date on his happiness and he knows that, but it doesn’t stop him from coming back to their arms each and every night.  
  
He’s a selfish person, he thinks. But he’s been told that children of Hades always are.  
  
.  
  
“I can see the future, y’know,” Rachel tells him, after she’s cornered him by the camp fire. Her stupidly fluffy Persian daemon has all but boxed Elpis in, until her back is to the flames.   
  
“Yeah, and?” he goes, because at this point, he’s had enough with prophecy.  
  
“I can tell you what happens,” she says nonchalantly, examining a nail. “With them and you.”  
  
Elpis whines. For a moment, he’s horribly tempted.

He bites his lip and tells her, “Sorry, but this kind of thing should probably be a surprise.”  
  
She just shrugs, but gives him a look that makes him suspect that he gave her the right answer.  
  
.  
  
“So,” Percy murmurs into Nico’s hair, the night before the fireworks. They’re alone, Annabeth off with one of her brother’s to do something Olympus related, and it’s what Nico’s always wanted, to be alone like this with Percy, but it feels oddly empty without Annabeth and Archimedes there.  
  
“So?” Nico breathes, voice hitching when Percy nips lightly at his throat.   
  
“Me and Annabeth were thinking.”  
  
“Annabeth and I.”  
  
Percy sends him a dirty look. “She’s rubbing off on you,” he mutters, rubbing his forehead against Nico’s shoulder.   
  
Nico snickers. “That’s what she said.”  
  
“You’re such a child,” Elpis murmurs sleepily from the end of the bed. The sheet is rucked up so it’s half on top of her, just her head poking out. Andromeda’s somewhere under there too, supposedly. “Both of you,” she adds when Percy chuckles.  
  
“Anyway,” Percy says, rolling his eyes. “Annabeth and I were wondering…”  
  
“Spit it out already, we don’t have all night.”  
  
“Yes, we do,” Andromeda gleefully informs them, her voice muffled.   
  
Percy groans. “Stop interrupting,” he whines. “Annabeth and I are going to go live at Camp Jupiter.”  
  
It’s like a bag of bricks dropped into his lap.  
  
“We want to go to college, get jobs, get married, and maybe have some kids,” Percy is saying, oblivious to the way that Nico’s gone still next to him.   
  
“Percy,” Andromeda interrupts and suddenly, she’s right there, hovering just in front of Nico’s nose. Cautiously, as if she’s expecting to be batted away, she lowers herself, until she’s tucked alongside Nico’s neck. Her wings tickle, is the first thing he thinks, disbelieving. Then the feeling hits him, deep, yet still faint, like he’s getting punched in the heart by an oven mitt. Percy makes this hoarse sound next to him, all guttural noise, and Nico shivers. “Get to the point already,” she hisses once they’ve caught their breath. Her wings are shivering. “You’re scaring him.”  
  
“I’m not scared,” he hears himself tell her faintly.  
  
“Sure you aren’t,” Elpis laughs, the sound shaky.  
  
The look that Percy sends him is confused, searching, but it still takes him a minute to get what’s wrong. “Oh no,” he whispers, leaning in and pulling Nico close. “We aren’t leaving you, dumbass. We wanted to know if you’d come with us?”  
  
“What?” Nico asks Percy’s armpit.  
  
Percy chuckles. “Yeah. Believe it or not, we like you, even if you are a dumb martyr wannabe—don’t look at me that way, I remember—and if you’re willing, we’d like to try to keep you.”  
  
Nico stares at him, speechless.  
  
“Okay,” Elpis says, giving them both a toothy grin and crawling into Percy’s lap. If Nico had thought the sensation was intense before, he was wrong. This—Nico’s soul in Percy’s lap, Percy’s soul tucked against his throat—there’s no feeling like it. “We’d like that.”  
  
.  
  
These are the things they don’t tell you about life: the feel of Percy’s soul sitting warmly in your arms, the ghostly remnant of Annabeth’s perfume in the apartment while she’s off at classes, the sound of them bickering over what you should make them for dinner, your sister’s fond smile when she sets eyes on the ring around your finger—a perfect match to theirs, and the taste of the blue cake that Sally Jackson makes for your birthday. They don’t tell you about how it feels, hearing those little words—those words that everyone wants to hear as Annabeth slides a ring onto your finger—both of them grinning as you blush and hide your face.  
  
They don’t tell you about how Annabeth burns everything she tries to cook or how she laughs when you inevitably come to rescue dinner. They don’t tell you how it feels when Elpis winds herself around Percy’s legs in the early hours of the morning, the warmth of your souls intermingling.  
  
What stories often get wrong is that it’s not the big, swelling moments that really get to you—saving the world was great and all, Annabeth will sometimes say, but it’s got nothing on curling around you and Percy on a cold night.  
  
You though, you think that it is sometimes the big, swelling moments. Watching Annabeth walk down the aisle, the sword at her waist almost invisible against her swaying skirts. Meeting your child for the first time, Elpis nosing at the nameless daemon curled atop her little belly. Buying a little house in the middle of nowhere and watching Percy marvel over the mountains, because it will never not be a miracle to see mountains in place of skyscrapers.  
  
Sometimes it’s the little moments, the bedroom hymns that lull you to sleep at night.  
  
Other times, it’s the big ones—the Mt. Everest’s of experiences. Saving the world or watching your kids grow old, memories that sit warm in your heart for the rest of your life.  
  
The moments mingle until they’re nearly indistinguishable, because in the end, it’s just your life. Not a story to go down in history or an epic that will be remembered thousands of years later. It’s your story, the pages filled with memories, good and bad.  
  
The point is, that when looking back on it, was it all worth it?  
  
 _Yes_ , you think. _Of course._

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [satellite call [the campfire hymns remix]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4203873) by [Sour_Idealist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sour_Idealist/pseuds/Sour_Idealist)




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